Identification pattern systems, such as fingerprint identification systems, are commonly used in many contexts to efficiently identify individuals and to verify the identity of individuals. For example, in the public sector, fingerprint identification systems are often a crucial element in most modern criminal investigations. Similarly, in the private sector, fingerprint identification systems are often used to address security concerns or to detect credit card or personal identity fraud.
Fingerprint matching depends, in part, on matching characteristics between reference a fingerprint and a search fingerprint. For instance, reference fingerprints are extracted from a repository of previously obtained fingerprint records that are used to facilitate a match and the search fingerprint is a fingerprint associated with the individual for whom identification or identity verification is sought. In many examples, the quality and accuracy of the fingerprint matching depends on the quality and availability of matching characteristics.